BOSTON — There was five minutes 24 seconds to play and the Maple Leafs stood, wobbling, barely alive in the Stanley Cup playoffs, still sweating, still breathing, hearts thumping with noise blaring and everyone on their feet at the TD Garden.

It was that crazy a Saturday night in Boston.

There was no reason for anyone to sit down. It all seemed so one sided, the crowd, the Bruins, the lousy officiating, the survival of the Maple Leafs, everything but the score.

And in the end, the score — 4-3 Leafs — was all that mattered.

They are somehow alive these Maple Leafs. After leading 4-1 and not blowing it, the series with the Bruins will go to a sixth game Monday night back in Toronto. The Leafs are somehow alive after they could barely find a way out of the their zone for the final 20 minutes and Frederik Andersen was brilliant on a night he and the Leafs needed him to be brilliant.

The margin for victory, in this game, now in this series, is so thin, so minute, the Leafs winning on a night they spent the entire third period playing in traffic, almost being run over by the aggressive and talented Bruins. For half a game, the Leafs had four lines going, went ahead by three goals, were playing more as a team with depth and power than they had in any of the previous four games, were getting performances out of those who have gone missing in action, and then the final 30 minutes were played.

And it was Boston and Boston and more Boston — and Andersen made the save. It was like watching a football team drive up and down the field, make first down after first down, push the ball towards the end zone, and then get stopped just as they were crossing the goal line.

The Bruins couldn’t cross the goal line in the end and the Leafs players admitted afterwards their hearts were racing on the bench, they tried to calm themselves through the catastrophe that has happened on the ice, they were trying to figure out a way and weren’t necessarily able to find an answer.

But they won. There is a Game 6. Exhale. Somehow they won.

They got through a night of elimination where they weren’t the better team for the final 30 minutes, where Andersen was superb and Tuukka Rask was pulled, and for as a great a goaltender as Rask has been historically, he is now just 10-9 as a Stanley Cup goaltender.

That is somewhat encouraging as the Leafs move home on Monday night.

In the hallway at the TD Garden, Leafs chairman Larry Tanenbaum and Bell chairman George Cope, the most active of the Maple Leafs’ owners, were first into the dressing rooms post-game. It could have been a night to say thanks and goodbye for the season and we’ll see you next year. Instead, Tanenbaum was shaking hands, with the kind of enthusiasm he shook hands after his Argos won the Grey Cup and his soccer team won the MLS crown.

This was just a win but the meaning is greater than that. The Leafs couldn’t go out of the playoffs without making more noise. They are better than that. And on Saturday night, they had more players going with Nazem Kadri back after suspension leading the way. Connor Brown, who has been invisible, was impressive. Zach Hyman contributed. The Leafs who could have been playing their final nights for the franchise, Tyler Bozak and James van Riemsdyk, both scored goals. The kid, Andreas Johnsson, scored off a high-level skill pass from Kadri.

Yet with 25 seconds to play and the faceoff in the Leafs end, and the crowd wildly noisy, coach Mike Babcock chose Zach Hyman, not Auston Matthews, not Tomas Plekanec, to face off against Patrice Bergeron. Hyman won the draw. The Leafs got the puck after five straight minutes in the end. For a second they could breath easy, then celebrate.

Then celebrate some more.

For this night at least.

In the dressing room, Babcock, who hadn’t seen the game sheet, asked a pertinent question to his staff. “How many penalties did we have?

“And how many penalties did they have.”

Normally, NHL officials were black and white stripes. If you looked close enough Saturday night, it appearsed as thoughh referees Francis Charron and Brad Watson were wearing black and gold colours.

The Leafs had 16 minutes in penalties. The Bruins had six.

“I think we played too much on our heels,” said Brown. “But at the end of the day, it was a gutsy win down the stretch, a real momentum builder.

“The building came alive. it was a little too exciting than we should have made it … We held on to the lead thanks to Freddie.”

Yes, Andersen. Who has been just ordinary in the previous four games. Able to face 20 shots in the final period, allowing just one goal, able to stay so sharp while, as Bob Cole might say, everything was happening around him.

Everything but defeat. There is a game Monday night. This series is still going on. The Leafs got knocked down by the Bruins but got up before the referee counted to ten. And they won a decision.

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